Question for non-responders

[pjhep80]

since my plan to be hep free by summer with the vx950 trial has fallen thru i have a new plan...

i have never tx'd with riba/peg, only the virimadine, so this january im going to get on a better insurance plan (less co-pay) and go for it, if it doesnt work i can always stop

im afraid that when 'new' tx is available (vx950 or similar plus peg/riba), the insurance companies are going to require failure with SOC before they pay for another drug so im going to get it out of the way now... and i just dont want to wait another 3-4 years doing nothing ... im stage 2/2 but the fibrosure test i just had shows the 2 for fibrosis is almost stage 3...

so i have a question for any non-responders here... did your viral load drop at all during tx?  if its not working... when should i stop?  before 24 weeks?  ...im not staying on these drugs any longer then i have to if they arent doing anything...

[evangelin]

My husband was a nonresponder to Peg-intron and riba (riba was under dosed at 800mg) and Infergen and riba ( again riba was under dosed and he had a viral breakthrough when they reduced doses).  He is at week 29 of Pegasys, 1400 mg riba and Alinia added, but once again he is not a responder.  He came much closer to response with this combo.  He had a 3 log drop by week 12 and his viral load was 250 at week 24.  We just had it taken at week 28 and it was 400...not good I know.  On the bright side, his ALT was "below" normal and his AST was normal.  A few other things improved, in fact he had less highs and lows than ever before.  I don't know what you can make of all this but I thought I'd offer it as information.  By the way, Joe has cirrhosis and is a geno 1b. His starting viral load was 3 million and it has been much higher than that at times.  HR's supplements listed on Gauf's profile made remarkable improvements in Joe prior to tx and we will go back to them when he stops the meds, probably the end of February.  The Doctor gave him the choice of keeping on them until then.
Best wishes,
Ev

[epiphiny]

Oh, forgot to mention.  Being a non-responder got me onto a ploymerase inhibitor trial earlier this year and now I'm responding and have achieved UND.

[epiphiny]

Ok, I was a treatment naive non-responder to treatment back in 2003/2004.

Unfortunately, back then in NZ, they didn't do quantative VL tests so I can not tell whether I experienced any viral drop at all, but as far as the medical system was concerned I was a null responder.  

In other words I never went UND within the 24 weeks of SOC treatment and my LFTs never went within normal range.  I am a Geno 3.

Protocols are changing all the time, and as I understand it now for a Geno 3, if I had shown no response by week 12 they would have pulled me.  I wish they had but, hey, that was 2004.

Treatment decisions are now based on individuals viral responses coupled with their Genotype.  Other important factors are your "log" drops and when you go UND.

I believe it is desirable to have at least a 2 log drop by week 12 or treatment is discontinued however I hope someone more knowledgeable on this will chime in for you...

Epi :)